Consumer sufferings reached its peak in the outgoing year of 2022 as above 17 key essentials and services have become costlier by 8.0-80 per cent, causing an influential cut in real income of millions of people, according to market observers and economists.
Staple rice, flour, fish, meat, liquid and powdered milk, sugar, edible oil, salt, pulses, egg, transport, medicine and toiletries hit all-time highs in 2022.
Moreover, house rent, household gas price, few spices like red chilli, clove, cinnamon, turmeric, ginger also witnessed a hike during this period, according to Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB), Department of Agricultural Marketing (DAM), Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB), and many city groceries.
Prices of potato, key vegetables and onion, however, showed a static or downward trend in December 2022, compared to the corresponding month of 2021.
A hike in fuel oil, sky rocketing import costs for notable appreciation in US dollar, the Ukraine-Russia war and market oligopoly by some local players as well as low income growth compared to that of inflation are key reasons for increasing woes of the consumers in 2022, according to experts.
Staple rice and flour prices hit all-time highs in 2022 hurting the millions of people who spent a good amount to source the products.
Coarse rice was retailed at Tk 52-56, medium at Tk 58-65 and finer loose at Tk 78-92 a kg and finer branded at Tk 84-98 a kg in the markets in December 2022.
TCB data showed rice prices witnessed 8.0-10 per cent hike in a year.
Finer flour or 'maida' also made a record this December as its packet form was selling maximum Tk 85 a kg while coarse flour or 'atta' at Tk 75 a kg.
Loose maida was selling at a record Tk 78 and loose atta at Tk 70 a kg in the market, according to city groceries.
TCB found a 47-65 per cent surge in flour prices in a year and 100 per cent in the last one and a half years.
Liquid milk witnessed a two-time hike as it reached Tk 90 a litre marking a 28 per cent hike in a year, while powdered milk prices witnessed a 28-40 per cent surge. Popular powdered milk brands like Diploma and Dano were selling at Tk 850-900 a kg.
Pulses, including lentil and anchor (a kind of broken imported chickpea), prices showed a record hike in 2022 as coarse lentil was retailed at Tk 110, medium quality at Tk 125-130 and finer lentil at Tk 140-150 a kg.
Anchor price increased to a record Tk 90 a kg marking a 40 per cent hike in a year, hurting the poor who are key consumers.
Sugar witnessed a 45 per cent hike as it reached Tk 120 a kg, and salt experienced a 22 per cent surge and sold at Tk 42 a kg.
Cultured rui, katla, tilapia, pangas and koi fish witnessed a 25-35 per cent hike, while beef 18 per cent and goat 17 per cent during the period, said the government-run TCB.
Toiletries and home care products like bath soap, washing soap, washing powder, handwash, tissue paper, toothpaste, dish cleaner, toilet cleaner etc witnessed a 30-50 per cent hike in 2022, according to the Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB).
CAB Vice President SM Nazer Hossain said after being almost static for the last two years (2020 and 2021), house rent of mid-range flats increased by Tk 500-3,000 per unit in 2022 - 5.0-8.0 per cent hike depending on city areas and the size of a flat.The government also raised gas prices by 22 per cent, he said.
He said medicine prices have been raised by up to 80 per cent this outgoing year by the government itself, while diesel price hike caused a 25-30 per cent surge in transport hike.
"We are reviewing the hospital charges, test report costs, doctors' visit rates in private hospitals from which a total picture of the healthcare sector could be found."
He said millions of people have newly entered into poverty trap this year as income didn't increase to the level of real inflation.
Farm egg, key protein source for the poor, even reached an all-time high Tk 180 a dozen in August this year. However, egg price started declining in the later part and was selling at Tk 120 a dozen in December.
The current price is still 8.0 per cent higher than that of a year ago, TCB and DAM data showed.
However, Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) data shows that the wage rate fell compared to that of consumer price inflation in recent months.
BBS in its latest publication shows that the rate of nominal wage growth in November 2022 was 6.98 per cent on a point-to-point basis when inflation stood at 8.85 per cent.
South Asian Network on Economic Modeling (SANEM) Executive Director Prof Dr Selim Raihan said a hike in diesel price and the US dollar appreciation from the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war that contributed to a surge in import costs were key reasons behind the higher inflation.
In addition, he said, the income of a vast population has not increased, widening the gap between the wage growth and the inflation rate.
The low and low-middle income people have been losing purchasing power as the inflation is eating their real incomes, he said.
"These might lead to a rise in poverty further as well as it would affect the dietary intake, education, healthcare, etc. of millions of people." CAB Vice President SM Nazer Hussain also added that the oligopoly of ten key essential commodity companies and importers are further enhancing the pain of the consumers.
One and a half months have passed but the government was yet to bring down sugar prices within its fixed rate of Tk 102-108 a kg, he said, urging the government to review diesel price to prevent any untoward situation.
Meanwhile, the World Food Programme (WFP)'s latest study showed that above 68 per cent of Bangladeshis have been going through difficulty buying food.
The study, based on a survey in July 2022 also said 64 per cent of people took loans to buy food for the family while 29 per cent households were forced to withdraw their savings.
